


The Moonlit Girls

by yourhope



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Adventure, Chariot gets dragged along into god knows what, Croix is a conspiracy theorist, F/F, Friendship, Romance? Perhaps, Secret Magic Society AU, they're a disaster duo trying to uncover the secrets of Luna Nova
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-02 06:12:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16299629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourhope/pseuds/yourhope
Summary: In the midst of having a less than ideal day, Chariot meets an unusual girl who manages to turn everything upside down.





	1. Reach Out and It'll Begin?

**Author's Note:**

> My story for Charoix Week. It's a fun one if I do say so myself. Here we are with Day 1: First Meeting!

Tucked away in her office as one would expect of a headmistress, Miranda Holbrooke stood behind her desk with her back to the room, gently leaning forward with her hands clasped atop her staff.

It was still a tender hour what with the air still calm and the world as she saw it from her window still mellow. Through the glass, her eyes traveled higher until they settled on the twilight sky and a wistful look passed over her face, feeling a familiar stirring in the pit of her stomach.

Her eyes twinkled as she embraced the hushed excitement growing ever louder inside her. It was an emotion she always carried, one that pooled within her time after time, which she only let herself dip into when the proper moments allowed for it.

And she could only affirm that today was undoubtedly one of those moments as she took a serene breath and relaxed into the feelings only these special and specific mornings could give her.

She remained that way until a knock on her door echoed throughout the room and though it interrupted the silence, it was not unwelcome.

“Come in,” her voice warm and wavering with age called out.

The door creaked as it slid open. Quiet footsteps padded against the floor as her guest entered and the door clicked as it shut behind them.

“Headmistress,” a voice greeted.

She didn’t turn to meet their face, yet she smiled as if she had. Her eyes never left the sky.

“Isn’t it a nice morning?” She asked.

“Surely. But, will it be a nice night as well?”

“We’ll only know when the night arrives, now won’t we?” She teased.

“And the night will arrive before we know it. The time is drawing near.”

The headmistress released a steady hum. “I am aware.”

She heard a short exhale of breath and with a tone slightly more hesitant than before, her company continued.

“Headmistress… don’t think me redundant as I ask, but as we reach this point yet again, I feel it appropriate to ascertain that we _are_ doing the correct thing? You are positive of such?”

There was no hesitance in the response given. “Indeed.”

No immediate reply followed the statement for the next case of words stirred in even more uncertainty before they were finally said.

“Year after year, many students enter this academy. So far, we have always come up short. Do you truly believe we will ever find the right ones? The ones _she_ spoke of?”

“It isn’t our duty to find them.” Those words came with a smiling confidence. “When the right ones are ready, they will find us. This, I know.”

There was a small sigh. “And you know this based off fact? Or assumption?”

A hearty chuckle left the mouth of the woman in question. “Be kind to me, Anne. I have yet to lead you astray, have I?”

“Perhaps not. Though, with something as important as this, I have the inclination to wait and see. After all, waiting is all I can do. But, as patient as I will be, I do hope that this time our search will finally come to its long-awaited end.”

 

* * *

 

“Miss du Nord,” an ever familiar voice snapped. “You aren’t coming any closer to finishing.”

Sitting hunched over in a desk at the very front of a classroom with no other students in it for she had been the only one demanded to report in so only in the morning, “Miss du Nord”—who would much rather be called by her first name, Chariot—tensed at the voice and stilled her hand that had been busy writing line after line onto the sheet of paper below her. She glanced over her work so far and her shoulders sunk. The page was hardly half-way full.

Frustrated, Chariot blew one of her many stray strands of red hair out of her face while her eyes of the same color glazed over in tedium. “I’m going as fast as I can,” she half whined-half yawned. Surely, she’d be much further ahead if she wasn’t so exhausted.

Over her shoulder, her first period professor, a woman named Finnelan—who Chariot would never be so audacious to call by _her_ first name—stood with her arms just as cross as her face. “Then, I suggest you go even faster if you don’t wish to join me _after_ class writing lines as well.”

It wasn’t the motivation Chariot wanted, but it would have to do.

Stifling another yawn, she willed for some outside force to supply her with an energy boost that could grant her the power to swiftly complete her lines and be done with this punishment.

Though, she supposed it was her own fault she was being punished to begin with. She couldn’t count how many times Professor Finnelan had warned her that if she continued to be late to class, she would be handled accordingly. And, if Chariot had known that meant she would have to wake up at the crack of dawn to come write lines, she wouldn’t have shoved off her roommates the previous day who had attempted to rouse her awake, only to give up and rush to class in the remaining time they had left to ensure _they_ wouldn’t be late.

Chariot wondered where she would be if she had that discipline. Definitely not in her current predicament, for one thing. Nor would she have gotten into that predicament last week when she had dozed off in the middle of a history exam and nearly failed. Or that _other_ predicament where she had forgotten to turn in her chemistry homework two days in a row and got an earful from Professor Lukić who was… very colorful with her word choice for misbehaving students.

Chariot wanted to shudder just thinking about it, but she forced herself to put those thoughts aside, figuring she could unpack her many faults another time. For now, she just had to get through the trials of the morning, all the while doing her best to ignore the urge to curl up and get back the sleep she had missed out on.

After she had managed to produce enough lines for Professor Finnelan’s pleasure, class had begun and she gazed in envy as her classmates filed in, knowing full well they wouldn’t have to spend the next hour taking notes with a hand that was already sore and listening to the lecture with a focus that was already shot.

To make matters slightly worse, she had skipped breakfast out of fear it would have made her late. And perhaps arriving late to the punishment she had warranted due to always being late would have earned her much worse than she’d have wanted. Though, as her stomach continued to rumble, twist, and clench throughout the rest of class, she thought maybe much worse wouldn’t have been so bad.

The morning continued to test her as Chariot did her best to pull through. Class after class, professor after professor, she handled it as best she could—though some would argue her best was hardly impressive enough.

She managed to barely make it through the remaining hours until noon and when the lunch bell finally rang, she didn’t hesitate to dash out of her stuffy classroom and take off to the cafeteria—an action that caused her to bump (read: crash) into an unsuspecting professor in the hall who was so scandalized, she lectured Chariot with a red face and irate voice for much longer than one starving would have liked.

In the end, the mishap put even more of a damper on Chariot’s day and she opted to eat her lunch in silence, not feeling any of the bliss she thought this break would provide her with.

She remained in low spirits until classes ended completely and by that point, she had felt so run through the mill, she simply only had the energy to trudge back to her dorm hoping to finally get the lie down in bed she had been waiting for. At least, that was what she had hoped.

She failed to realize, as she heard two sets of footsteps scampering towards her, that this would be where things took a turn.

“Chariot!” A voice sang through the air.

A second voice in the same tone followed. “Hey, Chariot, wait a second!”

Slowing to a halt, Chariot turned and saw two figures coming toward her. Her roommates, of course. One with long, dark hair and light eyes and the other with short, light hair and dark eyes. They complemented each other just well. And always ones to appear side by side were they. More than once, Chariot wondered how the two of them seemed to so quickly grow attached to another while the only attachment she had to _them_ was the simple fact they lived together.

And, speaking of living together—

“Is it okay if we have the room to ourselves for a bit?”

—She often had to deal with situations such as these.

Chariot sighed, or was it groaned, and looked to the two girls now only a large step away. “What for this time?”

The one with long hair, Isabella, spoke. “Just for a little emergency meeting with the girls from the school paper.” She nodded behind her and Chariot noticed three other girls hovering just a few meters away near the wall. She recognized one of them from last week when her roommates hosted an impromptu school council gathering in their dorm. Chariot had been asked to not show up then as well.

“But—”

The one with short hair, Isabel—because of course her two roommates would have almost identical names—interrupted. “The room we normally frequent is occupied for today, so we just decided to go to our room since it’s closest. Is that alright?”

“I…” Chariot felt her shoulders deflate as she fell short of a rebuttal. What could she even argue, that she wanted the room for herself so she could sleep? That would hardly convince anyone. “… Fine.”

Isabel and Isabella beamed at her, the way they always did when she complied with their wishes, then waved to the other girls, gesturing for them to follow.

Without another word, Chariot turned back around and regained walking, now with no destination in mind. The newspaper club behind her struck up their own conversation, their words wafting into Chariot’s ears.

“You all read the revisions I gave you, right? Printing is in two days, so we have to get everything perfect. Oh, and the staff would also like for us to include a small piece for Professor Lukić’s birthday.”

“Lukić? How old is she this year, one-hundred?”

“Please, she can’t be _that_ old.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, what with people say about her being a witch.”

“You don’t actually believe she could be a witch, do you?”

“Who knows, although it would fit the rumors that Luna Nova used to be a witch’s school.”

“Those rumors have no credibility. People only think that because this place is so old.”

Their voices tuned out of Chariot’s head as she walked further and further away from them.

Somewhere within her, there was a faint sense of longing to go back and be included in their conversation. Though she had no desire to discuss events of the school paper, she briefly wondered how it would be if she did have something to talk about with those girls—or any girls in Luna Nova. Maybe then she wouldn’t always be so left out.

Casting those thoughts aside, Chariot settled for heading to the library, figuring that in a place so quiet, she could still squeeze in a nap.

Upon arriving there, Chariot slid through the enormous doors and sent a shy wave to the librarian who had watched her enter from her desk. She was quite the intimidating lady and Chariot knew not to cross her if she could help it, so she hoped to convey she wasn’t there to cause any trouble. With that, she made her way to an empty desk in a far corner and settled down in a chair.

She had been looking forward to leaning down and resting her head. Unfortunately, before that could happen, a sharp noise sounding vaguely similar to a book slamming shut startled her so much her heart jerked. Following that, the muffled grumbling of a voice traveled into her ears, rambling on and on until Chariot felt almost obligated to investigate the various sounds of frustration which she realized were coming from behind her, just beyond the bookshelf a few feet away.

In a cautious—and nosy—manner, Chariot looked toward the shelf and pushed her weight onto the edge of her chair, leaning ever so closer to make out the voice.

“Ergh,” there was an irritated spat. “I’ve looked through book after book and not one of them says a word about…”

Either whoever it was stopped talking or they said their next words so lowly that Chariot couldn’t hear them. The one thing she could note was that she didn’t recognize the voice. Though, that didn’t stop her from listening on, as much as she knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping.

She leaned even closer, failing to notice the front two legs of her chair had come off the ground.

“Honestly, what kind of school library is this,” the person hissed. “How can there be all these books supposedly dedicated to the history of Luna Nova when none of them even mention its origins?”

Chariot’s brow furrowed. The school’s origins? She had never heard anyone seem to be so interested in such a thing. She thought it was just a shared trait amongst all the students to accept that with a school as ancient as theirs, it wasn’t worth the time to look back at all the surely boring history of Luna Nova. She had to wonder what the person behind the shelf could want it for.

Unfortunately for Chariot, in all her wondering, she hadn’t realized that underneath her weight, her chair had fallen too far back to keep its balance on its two hind legs. It wasn’t until she felt the unmistakable hold of gravity pulling her down that her heart surged. She was falling.

An undignified yelp, a loud _thump_ , and the clattering of wood against the hard floor echoed throughout the library, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

Chariot groaned at the throbbing in her side and hastily stood up, face reddening at the eyes she felt watching her. Sheepishly, she glanced back and cowered at all the girls looking her way, some amused, some unimpressed. The librarian in particular, she noticed, was staring at her with her eyes squinted in a way that made Chariot’s blood run cold.

“Uh…” She nervously laughed. “Don’t mind me, I’m just…” Her eyes flickered back and forth, looking for any excuse. Seeing the bookshelf in her peripheral vision, she swiftly turned around and grabbed one of the books at random. “Just getting excited about this really nice book, you know? And, uh… yeah, I’ll be quiet now.”

The librarian shook her head, but left Chariot to her own devices as she went back to what she was doing, as did the other girls. Chariot sighed, relieved, then went to put the snatched up book back in its place. However, when she turned to the shelf—in the space where her book had previously been that should have been empty—she saw a face looking back at her instead.

It took all of Chariot’s willpower to not disrupt the library with another yelp.

She took an alarmed step back, almost tripping over her chair still lying on the floor. Through the hole now acting as a window between the two sides of the bookshelf, another student who she couldn’t recall ever seeing before, stood there surveying her.

She remembered there had been someone on the other side of the shelf and if this was the very girl who had been complaining before, she certainly had the small tinge of annoyance on her face that Chariot would expect. Her green eyes sitting behind a pair of square-framed glasses stared at her dryly and Chariot fidgeted.

“Um. Hi?”

The girl gave her a dry—and sarcastic?—response. “Hi.”

Chariot wasn’t surprised her voice was the same one she had heard earlier.

“Do you mind?” She continued. “I was wanting to look at that book you’re holding.”

“Ohh,” Chariot drawled, now catching on. “Right. Sorry about that.”

Holding the book up, she took a glance at the cover and read the title: _History of Luna Nova Academy, Vol. 6_.

“Luna Nova’s history, huh?” She commented, sliding the book through the hole. She still didn’t get the appeal. “Is this stuff actually interesting?”

The girl took the book, eyes no longer regarding Chariot, as she replied. “It would be…” Paper flipped to and fro as she skimmed through the book, “… if I could actually find what I was looking for,” she muttered.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Chariot peered even further into the bookshelf.

“What _are_ you looking for?”

The girl scoffed and blew a strand of lilac hair out of her face. “Information the library refuses to hold, apparently.” Then more so to herself than Chariot, she asked, “If it’s not here, where else could it be?”

And though the question wasn’t exactly meant for her, Chariot found herself considering it just the same.

“Hm…” Her head tilted to the side as she began to think aloud. “If whatever you’re looking for isn’t in the library, then…” A distant memory resurfaced in her head. “Then, maybe it’s in the school archive.”

That got the girl’s attention. Her eyes acknowledged Chariot’s presence once again but with a piqued interest. “Archive?”

Chariot made sure she was remembering correctly then turned her focus back to the girl and nodded. “Yeah. I overheard some teachers talking about it once. One of them said they had to get something important from it, so I bet it’s full of information. If you’re trying to find something that isn’t in the library, it makes sense for it to be there.”

“Is that so?” The girl edged closer. “And, where is the school archive?”

“Well… I don’t know. I didn’t even know we had an archive before that. And I don’t think any of the students are supposed to know, actually,” Chariot speculated. “It was just by chance that I heard of it, but it’s probably off limits, anyway. A bunch of stuff on campus is.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “And, you don’t find that curious?”

“Huh?”

“So much of this school is off limits. Why is that?”

Chariot scratched at that back of her neck. “I don’t know… The teachers don’t want students messing stuff up?”

“Or they’re hiding something,” the girl said in a quiet, suspicious tone.

Chariot balked. “What?”

Her question was met with no direct response as the other girl carried on with no mind to elaborate. “Say…” she straightened up, eyes looking to the sky in thought. “The northern campus seems like the type of place that could hold an archive, doesn’t it?”

Chariot’s eyes widened. “The northern campus? That place is so rundown, what could be in there? Besides, it’s like the most off limits place on school grounds. You can’t just _go_ there, if you get caught—”

“Then I won’t get caught.”

Chariot stared at her blankly. “It’s broad daylight, you’ll get caught.”

“Then I won’t go during broad daylight,” the girl answered without second thought.

“Wh— _no_ , you shouldn’t go at all.”

“Well, thank you for your help,” the girl said abruptly, ignoring Chariot’s warning, “but I have to get going now.”

“Wait, but—” Suddenly, _History of Luna Nova, Vol. 6_ was shoved into the bookshelf, filling the hole they had been talking through and removing the girl from sight.

Chariot remained still for a moment, then heaved a deep sigh upon being left alone.

“What was that about?” She wondered as she bent down to pick her chair up from the ground, plopping down onto it the moment it was upright.

For all the trouble Chariot may have gotten into herself, it wasn’t as if she actively tried to be a delinquent. So, to willingly break the rules knowing the consequences would be severe… that girl was certainly up to something. But, what?

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t until several hours later, when Chariot thought her mind had moved on from the strange girl in the library, that she found herself right back where she started.

It had unwittingly happened, with Chariot casually making her way to the cafeteria for dinner. Isabel and Isabella walked side by side a few paces ahead of her and she trailed behind, gazing absentmindedly out the windows she passed, not thinking much of anything. That was, until she saw something—rather, someone—that stole all her focus.

Her eyes had been trailing over the grounds of the courtyard, now darkened with the late evening shadows. With all the students inside, it was left empty. Or, that _would_ have been the case if one rebel student hadn’t strayed from the pack. Off in the distance, Chariot came to spot a head of lilac hair, one that looked all too familiar. And though she had only seen it once, there was no way it could be anyone else. After all, who else would be sneaking off in the direction of…

Chariot came to an abrupt halt staring in disbelief out the window. “You can’t be serious,” she said under her breath.

There was no way this girl was actually… _Was_ she actually…?

Their previous conversation came crashing back to her and Chariot fought off a groan.

She felt something looming over her, whether it be exasperation or responsibility, she wasn’t entirely sure. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shake the urge to be nosy and step in once again. It was strange, yes, given that Chariot didn’t even know who this girl was, and the one conversation they had certainly didn’t make them any closer. But was she just supposed to stand by while someone did something she knew was a bad idea?

If she were anyone else, perhaps someone with a better moral compass, she might have gone to fetch a professor. But funnily enough, her moral compass had wound up stuck in one direction and the only thing it was pointing towards was a certain mysterious girl with even more mysterious motives. So that was where her footsteps would take her.

Forgetting about dinner and her roommates, who wouldn’t even come to notice her disappearance until later, Chariot felt an invisible string pulling on her until she allowed it to drag her in the reverse direction, down the hall, and out of the nearest exit.

Planting her feet in the grass of the courtyard, she took one last look around confirming the only people outside were her and the current bane of her existence, and took off towards her.

Luckily, Chariot was light on her feet and the padding of the grass quieted any additional sounds so she was able to get quite close to the lilac haired menace without being heard.

She followed her until they had both gotten far enough to not be discovered by anyone who may have been passing through the main hall, looking through any windows the way she had been. And once the girl rounded a corner, securely hiding the two of them in the outskirts of the school building, Chariot chose not to wait another moment.

“Going somewhere?”

There was a startled gasp and the girl whirled around, her eyes wide and shoulders tense. Following that, there was a pregnant pause as green eyes recognized hers, only to narrow the moment they did.

“You—!”

Chariot sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, if you were trying to be sneaky, you didn’t exactly do that good of a job.”

Underneath a mess of bangs, Chariot thought she saw an eyebrow twitch. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Chariot returned. “Do you remember a little conversation we had earlier where I told you how much of a bad idea this,” she gestured vaguely around her, “would be?”

She was met with a look of annoyance. “So what? It’s not like it’s your business, so just go back inside and forget you saw anything.”

“Okay, but I _can’t_ —” Chariot actually whined, “—just forget that I saw anything and I _do_ feel like it’s a little bit of my business because I was the one who told you about the dumb school archive so if you get in trouble doing this, I’ll feel like it’s my fault.”

“Do you have that much of a guilty conscience?” The girl scoffed.

Chariot blew air from her lips. “When you get blamed for things as much as I do, you start to develop one. Especially if the teachers find out you heard about the archive from me, they’ll just write me off as a bad influence. And Finnelan gets on my case enough as it is, I don’t need her thinking I encourage rule breaking more than she already assumes.”

“Well, whatever,” the girl snapped. “I won’t tell the teachers you told me about the archive. In fact, I won’t tell the teachers _anything_ because I won’t get caught.”

Chariot threw her arms out at her sides and groaned so loudly, it wouldn’t have surprised her if the whole school heard it. “You can’t be so sure of that,” she argued.

“Sure I can. Everyone’s at dinner, who’s going to find me?” The girl challenged. Then under her breath in the most miffed manner, she grumbled, “Except you. Ergh—” she shook her head, “What does it matter, anyway? Why do you care so much about what I do?”

“Why do you care so _little_ about what you do?” Chariot retorted. “You could get into serious trouble for this. Is some old building really worth it?”

The girl tsk’ed. “If only you knew…”

Chariot frowned. “Knew _what_? You’re so suspicious. You were like this in the library and I thought you were just being weird, but you keep talking like you know some huge secret and it’s… unnerving when you don’t elaborate.”

With those words, the girl before her stood straighter and pressed her lips together. She stared down at Chariot with a stony face and firm, unwavering eyes. Chariot wasn’t sure what it was, but something about her changed in that instant. For a second, she thought she somehow offended the girl. However, in the next few moments she would come to realize that wasn’t the case.

“You want me to elaborate?” The girl replied in a low voice. “Fine. I’ll elaborate if that’s what you want so badly.”

“O—Okay.” Chariot stuttered.

“Back in the library,” the girl began, “do you know what I was trying to find?”

Chariot involuntarily gave an obedient nod as if she was in class following along to a professor. “Luna Nova’s history, right?”

“Yes. Do you know _why_?”

“Um…”

There was a beat of silence and in that silence, the entire world seemed to shift.

“It’s because there’s a specific part of Luna Nova’s history that I’m looking for. A part of Luna Nova’s history that has been erased and left out of every textbook I could get my hands on. And it’s driving me insane because how could something so important just… not be there?”

Chariot could feel a suspense mounting in the air that inched from the tips of her toes all the way up her spine. “What are you…?” A small gasp fell from her lips. It was then that her mind thought back to a certain set of words she had heard in the library.

_‘How can there be all these books supposedly dedicated to the history of Luna Nova when none of them even mention its origins?’_

Her brain came back to the present and replayed what the girl had just said. A part of Luna Nova’s history that had been left out…

“The beginning?” Chariot whispered.

There was a quick moment where Chariot noticed a flash of shock passing over the other girl’s face, one that went as swiftly as it had come. It was as though she hadn’t actually expected Chariot to have an answer to her question, much less the _correct_ answer.

Then, there was another change in the girl’s countenance, one that stuck out more than the first.

Blooming on her features like a flower set in sun—ironically since it was night—was a new emotion. An emotion that suggested she had been waiting for this moment, the one where someone would listen to what she had to say and find themselves with the same revelations that she’d had, for quite some time. And though Chariot had only taken the first step in that direction as opposed to meeting her all the way at the finish line, her eyes already danced with the fulfillment.

Chariot would have to remember the way the girl had looked at her that day. Never in her time at Luna Nova had anyone looked at her with such a budding spark in their eyes until that point.

“So, that’s what this is about?” Chariot had to wonder if she was in a daze. “The school origins are… missing?”

“Not just the origins, even more than that,” the girl’s voice raised in pitch, her inflection revealing she was now all too eager to divulge what she knew. “This school supposedly has a history of over sixteen-hundred years, but did you know that in every history book, they never cover anything prior to the eighteen-hundreds? That’s _fourteen-hundred_ entire years left unaccounted for.”

“But, that’s…” Chariot’s mind was reeling. “Why would… That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. For people who are trying to hide something.”

Chariot’s mouth gaped open. What was she supposed to make of this? “What on earth is so big that so much of this school’s history would be hidden?”

The girl gave her a satisfied smirk. “I could tell you now. Or I could tell you on the way to the northern campus.”

Chariot pulled away ever so slightly. “You… want me to go with you?”

“Why not,” the girl shrugged. “Or, are you still planning on stopping me?”

“Well, I…” Chariot faltered. What _did_ she want to do?

When she had come outside, she was so sure her intentions had been clear. And in such a short amount of time, they and many other things had grown so muddled, her head may as well have been buzzing with the static of a faulty television.

Seeing her confliction, the other girl eased herself down a fraction and stepped back. “Look, don’t think I’m trying to be pushy. You can do what you want. But, if it sounds at all interesting, you could tag along and I guess we could investigate the secrets of Luna Nova together.”

And maybe it was something about that one word, _together_ , that would ultimately drive Chariot to give in, but she couldn’t help the way her stomach fluttered upon hearing it.

Together. How often did she take part in doing something together with someone? How often had she been left out so others could be together without her? When would the next time come where someone offered to be together with her?

Did she want to wait for a next time?

Chariot never liked to dwell on her loneliness, so she never quite paid attention to how much she truly hated it. It was a sad thing, realizing there was no one she really had to be together with. And as she studied the girl before her, she thought maybe she wasn’t the only one. Maybe there was a girl who was curious about something others weren’t, a girl who up until that point had never found anyone to share her curiosities with, a girl who would initially keep to herself, but truthfully speaking, she wouldn’t mind the feeling of togetherness as well.

And just maybe, Chariot wouldn’t mind spending the night being together with someone who wouldn't mind being together with her. Even if the overall idea of sneaking to the northern campus with a stranger still seemed like the biggest mistake the two of them could make.

So as she arrived at her decision with about as much grace as someone stumbling onto home plate, Chariot took a deep breath and steadied herself.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

The girl replied with a smile, one as wide as it was sincere. Upon seeing it, Chariot couldn’t help but think of her reputation of being the type of person who often messed up and got things wrong. So how was it one smile suddenly made her feel like she had gotten something right?

“Okay,” the girl beamed. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” Chariot blurted out before anyone could make a move. “Before we go, there’s just one thing that’s bothering me.”

The girl wrinkled her brow. “What?”

“I still don’t know your name.”

An amused huff of air left the girl. “I don’t know yours, either.”

Chariot gave a brisk nod of the head. “Well then,” she formally extended her hand. “It’s Chariot du Nord.”

And what should have been a simple introduction left her heart racing.

Because she was extending her hand. She was reaching out, willing to grab onto the unknown. And despite not having all the answers, despite not knowing where all this would lead, she was allowing herself to start down this new path.

The beginning to a brand new story was right before her.

And if Chariot thought her morning had been a lot to handle, she had no idea what she was in for next as a hand clasped in hers and she heard the name, “Croix. Croix Meridies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sneaking off in the middle of the night to a forbidden building, what could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. What Wakes in the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: First Date (?)

For all her life, Chariot could say she had never been afraid of the dark.

Even when she was young and the fear instilled itself in most children her age, she had never felt the discomfort others had. She had always found secret beauty in the night, marveling at the way the sky would come to life when the rest of the world would not. And the faith that humanity had in the moon and stars to always sing their silent lullabies and ease them down to rest was a feat she always found fascinating. Just like the stars that made up her name, Chariot du Nord embraced the night and everything that came with it.

With that being said, it was all she could do to stave off the uneasiness that crept up her spine as she headed further and further into the night, trailing behind the girl she now knew as Croix Meridies. The two of them, now teamed together, were doing something wrong and possibly dangerous and no matter how much closer they got to their destination, Chariot didn’t get any closer to believing it was a good idea.

She roughly swallowed and reminded herself that she made this decision. She had willingly come along because something in her felt the desire to. She just had yet to figure out what that desire was actually leading to.

All she knew were Luna Nova _this_ and secrets _that_. But she was still missing part of the bigger picture that Croix had yet to fill in for her.

“So, um… hey,” Chariot stepped forward, pulling up at Croix’s side, attempting to be casual as she spoke the first word either of them had said in over a minute. “You said you were gonna… tell me what was going on?”

Croix’s eyes flitted over to hers. “I will,” she reassured. “I’m just… thinking of how to start.”

“You could just blurt it out if that helps,” Chariot suggested entirely for her own benefit if it meant she could finally just be told. “I’m not really picky with the way I absorb information.”

Croix’s lips twitched upwards. “Alright. Then I’ll blurt it out.”

Chariot edged forward, crouching underneath the weight of the anticipation.

As if to tease her, Croix lingered in silence for just a second longer than necessary before finally saying, “I’m positive the reason this school is hiding so much of its history is because it used to be a school for witchcraft.”

Chariot felt her jaw fall open.

… But not in the shell-shocking way she had thought.

Rather, she now gaped at the side of Croix’s head, her body deflating bit by bit, as she suddenly began to feel… dissatisfied?

“Witch… craft?” Chariot repeated in a dragged out manner, carefully sounding out every vowel and consonant on her tongue, making sure she had in fact heard correctly.

Hearing the drop in tone, Croix looked toward her skeptically. “That’s what I said.”

Chariot allowed for several beats of silence to pass. And then the shabby dam that had been built inside her within those few moments broke loose.

“ _Witchcraft?_ ” She repeated in a raised voice, significantly more bewildered than before.

Croix winced at her volume and frowned. “ _Yes_ , witchcraft. And keep your voice down, what’s with you?”

Chariot floundered, searching for the right words to say. “It’s just… you made it seem like Luna Nova has this huge, scandalous secret, but… witchcraft? _Everyone_ knows about those rumors, that’s nothing surprising.”

Croix’s eyes narrowed. “Well, sorry if I didn’t give you the shock of your life, but regardless of whether everyone knows about those rumors—the point is, I don’t believe they’re _just_ rumors.”

Chariot pulled a face. “… Seriously? I mean, I’m not trying to be rude, but… you really believe that stuff?”

“Is it that surprising? I know people always act like the idea is silly, but it’s a lot more realistic than you think. I know it is. I just… need to find solid, factual evidence of what Luna Nova used to be so I have the proof to back me up.”

“And that’s what we’re on our way to do?” Chariot asked, already knowing the answer. “We’re going to look for evidence?”

Croix made an affirming sound in the back of her throat, but that didn’t stop the uncertainty from pooling within Chariot.

“Listen… I know you probably don’t want to hear this again, but how are you so sure the northern campus could have what you’re looking for? For all we know, it really could just be an old building.”

“And if it is, then I’ll just look somewhere else,” Croix shrugged. “This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve followed a hunch and came up short. It won’t matter if nothing’s there because that won’t stop me.”

Chariot considered her words and let out a quiet breath. “You’re really dedicated to this, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea,” Croix muttered.

And Chariot had to admit, if all else failed, at least her determination was admirable.

The two of them kept at their walking and a quietness fell over them. Thinking about what they were about to get themselves into and why they were doing it, Chariot let out a low whistle.

“So. Luna Nova the witch academy, huh?” Even if she wasn’t one-hundred percent sold, she supposed the idea sounded… interesting.

“I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to believe,” Croix huffed. “People theorize about it all the time.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s always just a bunch of jokes like ‘oh, Professor Lukić is so old and scary-looking so she must be a witch’—and I always thought those were kinda mean so I never took them seriously.”

Croix snorted. “Oh, Lukić is definitely a witch. Even if I’m somehow wrong about Luna Nova as a whole, that is still a hill I’m willing to die on.”

“And if she’s just a regular lady who's happened to be misjudged all these years?”

Croix shook her head, but there was a hint of a grin playing at her lips. “You sure love to have the opposing opinion, don’t you?”

 

* * *

  
Not much longer, they neared their destination as the northern campus came into perfect view and the moment Chariot laid eyes on it, she instantly felt a chill. She shuddered, trying to play it off as a result of the cool autumn air and not because the overall creepiness of the building gave her goosebumps.

Chariot had never seen the northern campus so up close with it being off limits and all, and as she stood before it, she had to think that was a good thing.

It was… an eerie building, no doubt. It’s dilapidated nature and clear abandonment added entirely to it’s unwelcome nature. Each shadow that stemmed from the architecture of the building seemed to flirt too dangerously with the darkness around them for her to really want to go near it. And while the ghoulish look of the building exceeded her expectations, she had been fairly on the nose with how broken down it was.

“Well,” Croix said as they got close enough. “This is it.”

“Yeah,” Chariot grimaced at the crumbling stairway that led to the building’s entrance. “This is it.”

Taking a deep breath, she followed after Croix who appeared to have no qualms with crossing the remaining distance and entering the one-structured ghost town.

Kicking rocks aside as she stepped up the stairs, Chariot remained close to Croix, unable to rid herself of the unsettling feeling surrounding her. Together they stepped through an archway and into the building—

And if Chariot thought the state of the outside was a mess, the interior was no better. The walls were deteriorated and molded and numerous areas had collapsed in, leaving gaping holes in the sides and roof. Stone blocks and fallen pillars littered the hall, the air smelled of mildew, and cobwebs were in just about every corner her eyes could see.

“Man,” she breathed. “This place is a trash heap. You really think the school archive could be _here_?”

Even now, Croix couldn’t hide her own uncertainty as she surveyed the wreck of a building.

“Well… we won’t know until we figure out for ourselves. So, let’s just check the place out.”

They headed further into the building and Chariot curled into herself with each passing step. Whatever Croix wanted, she _really_ hoped they could just find it and be done so they could get out of there. But as they walked through what was more or less just a regular long hallway, Chariot knew they would have to go deeper and deeper for the chance to even find something.

Growing tired of cobwebs and walls, Chariot looked up to the roof as she walked, coming under one of the many holes it possessed. She looked through and noticed the moon overhead, its light coming down in patches through the building.

She gazed upon it, head tilting curiously to the side as she studied it, soon noticing there was something… off.

She came to a halt and asked, “Is it just me or does the moon look… smaller than usual?”

Croix glanced toward her then to the sky and grunted, “Apogee.”

Chariot shot up an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“A lunar apogee,” Croix explained. “It happens every month. It’s when the moon is at its point in orbit farthest from earth. So it looks smaller.”

“Oh,” Chariot hummed. “That’s cool.”

“And it’s not what we’re here to focus on, so let’s keep looking around.”

Chariot puffed out her cheeks and continued alongside her without another word. That was, until they turned a corner and as she looked around, she noticed something at the far end of the hall.

“Hey,” she called out, gaining Croix’s attention. “Look.”

Croix followed her gaze and when she saw what Chariot did, her whole body perked up.

Sitting opposite them on the other side of the hall was an enormous wooden door. And while that wasn’t very impressive in itself, what did pique their interest was the fact that this door had been barred with a stray piece of wood, surely to keep whatever was inside from being discovered.

“Giant locked door?” Croix grinned to herself. “That has to be something.”

Without wasting another second, she took off down the hall, excitedly rushing toward the door. Chariot followed after, albeit more cautiously. When she caught up with Croix, she was already standing at the edge of the door, fiddling with the wooden plank. While her attention was on that, however, Chariot noticed something else.

In the center of the door was what appeared to be a sign, one a rusted gold, and when she looked closer, she noticed atop it sat an intricate insignia of… well, she wasn’t sure really. It looked like some sort of creature standing on its hind legs, but she could hardly tell what kind. There was also an engraving on it that took up the rest of the space. Stepping past Croix, Chariot came to stand before the sign, curious of what it said.

However, what it said, she didn’t know because as she took one glance at it, she realized it was in a language she wasn’t familiar with. Chariot frowned but before she could give the sign anymore focus, Croix called out to her.

“You know, this wood is so old and rotted, I’m sure we could pry it off easily.”

“Really? You think we should do that?”

“Absolutely,” Croix said firmly. “Nobody just has a locked up door in an abandoned building unless they’re hiding something incredibly important. Whether it’s the archive or not, it’s _something_. And I have to see it for myself.”

Chariot swallowed. “Right.”

“Get the other side of this wood, will you,” Croix commanded as she gripped her side of the wood in her fingers.

Chariot did as she was told, walking past the sign to get to the opposite end of the door, and grabbed onto the wood.

“Okay, now pull.”

In tandem, the two of them began to pull at the wood and though it took a bit of effort, Croix was right to assume they would be able to pry it off. It splintered and came undone in their hands, not strong enough to withstand the force and clattered to the ground.

Their eyes met for a quick moment before Croix wasted no more time in enthusiastically sliding the door open.

As she did so, Chariot’s eyes found the sign once again and unable to help her curiosity, she asked, “Hey, Croix? You wouldn’t happen to know how to read this, would you?”

“Hm?” She had pushed the door open a considerable amount, yet whatever was in the room was hidden amidst the darkness and shadows and as they peeked in, they could hardly make anything out. Frowning at the lack of visibility, Croix turned her attention to the sign Chariot pointed out and looked it over.

“This is Latin. It says…” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and leaned forward, slowly making out the words as she translated. “‘Waken not… the sleeping Arcas… As the protector of Polaris… he will attack those who approach the Fountain.’”

Croix pulled back and she and Chariot shared a look.

“Arcas?”

“Fountain?”

They glanced towards the sign then back to each other.

“Protector?”

“ _Attack_?”

Right then, there was a low rumbling sound, one that sounded painfully similar to a growl, followed by an echoing thud. Chariot and Croix froze, feeling their blood run cold. The rumbling grew louder and as it did, the two girls heard the thudding once again. Only this time, they had a feeling they what what it was.

Footsteps. Heavy footsteps. And they were coming closer.

Chariot’s heart dropped.

Croix’s must have done the same for she whimpered, “Chariot?”

Chariot somehow found her voice. “Y-Yeah?”

“I think we woke the sleeping Arcas.”

And from the shadows a form stepped out, one menacing and even from its distance, it towered over them. With the little light they had, Chariot could make out angry, beaded eyes and the curls of sharp teeth. That was all it took for a hand to grip her wrist and forcibly pull her backwards into the hall.

“Run!” Croix shouted, slamming the door shut. Chariot didn’t need to be told twice.

Together, they sprinted away from the door and down the hall as fast as their legs could manage.

Behind them, there was a loud, bellowing roar, a crash, and the tell-tale sound of wood shattering and clattering against the stone floor. Neither of them dared looked back to confirm that whatever was chasing them— _a monster_ , Chariot’s mind screamed—had smashed through the door of its chamber. It was obvious enough as footsteps pounded against the floor, making the entire building shake, as it raced after them in heavy pursuit.

Chariot suddenly felt light-headed. Was this actually happening? This couldn’t actually be happening.

Just a short amount of time ago, she had been a normal girl living a normal life. Then, all of a sudden, she had been talked into trespassing in order to possibly find evidence of Luna Nova being a school of witchcraft because a girl she had only met that afternoon was curious? Nothing about this scenario felt real. She must have been hallucinating because there was no way she was actually on the verge of being torn apart by a monster that, for some reason, was kept on school grounds? _Why_ was a monster kept on school grounds? This just couldn't be real.

“Come on!” She heard Croix scream into her ears as she led her through the hall and around a corner.

For only a fraction of second did they slow down in order for Croix to gather their surroundings. In a corner, she spotted a pile of cement blocks—one just big enough for two average-sized teenage girls to hide behind—and didn’t hesitate to drag Chariot in its direction. They quickly jumped behind it and ducked down, squeezing together, hoping with everything they had that it would be enough.

They heard the snarling and the heavy thuds of footsteps as the creature hauled around the corner, rapidly approaching, coming closer and closer…  

Chariot clenched her eyes shut. Her fingers shook terribly, her heart drummed so hard in her chest she feared it might burst. Beads of sweat now dripped down her face and she bit down on her lip to stop it from trembling. This was all so much. She hadn't been prepared to handle this.

Suddenly, Chariot heard the tiniest hitch in Croix’s breath. She silently whimpered assuming the worst, that the beast had spotted them and they were done for—

But, what came next, she didn’t expect.

With her eyes still shut, the only sense Chariot had to rely on was sound, and the sound her ears were hearing right then could have made her cry from relief.

The creature’s footsteps, which had once sounded so close and so loud, were now growing quieter. Eyes flickering open, Chariot along with Croix stared wide-eyed in pure shock as the two of them realized the creature had passed them. It had walked right past their hiding spot without noticing a thing.

Looking off to the side, she watched the creature march down the remaining length of the hall. Staring at its back, she recognized for the first time that it was a…

“A _polar bear_?” Croix squeaked the moment the creature rounded another corner, leaving the two of them alone. “How—How is—?… Oh, nevermind,” she shook her head. “Let’s just get the hell out of here before it finds us again,” her voice shook and cracked and Chariot wouldn’t have expected hers to sound any different.

She released a lengthy exhale, allowing it to calm her down as much as it could.

Now having seen the creature clearly, it brought Chariot a strange sense of comfort knowing it was just an animal and not a legitimate monster like she had assumed before. Though, that comfort was hard to hold onto when she knew it was still after them.

"Let's go," she mumbled to Croix. 

They hastily stood up, Croix still gripping onto Chariot’s wrist, and cautiously they made their way in the opposite direction as quickly and quietly as they could.

“This way,” Croix whispered, leading them down an unfamiliar hallway they hadn’t been in before. Maybe it was because she didn’t dare go back down the route that lead to the bear’s room, lest it had returned there or had something else waiting for them. Chariot couldn’t say she disagreed with that notion.

Stepping into the new hallway, Croix sighed in immediate relief as she saw that one of the walls had caved in and the gaping hole that had been left led outdoors. It wasn’t an official exit, but it was an exit nonetheless and that was all that mattered.

The two of them hurried towards and out of it, and stepping onto the grass, they looked around and saw that they now appeared to be on the opposite end of the building than where they had entered. Unsurprisingly, the field they stood in was full of even more decrepit structures and ruins.

However, there was just one thing that their eyes laid upon that was not like everything else. And when they saw it, gentle gasps fell from both their lips.

In the very center of all that was falling apart, was something that remained held together, standing tall and proud. Chariot stared, amazed, having never seen anything like it on school grounds before.

It was an arch. One woven out of tree branches it seemed, twisting together and meeting in the middle. She and Croix slowly approached it, unable to take their eyes away. Though as Chariot continued to stare at the branches, something about the shapes of them grew more and more familiar. The harder she looked, the more they looked like…

“People,” Croix breathed as if reading her mind. “It’s an arch crafted to look like two people coming together.”

“Wow,” Chariot marveled. “It’s beautiful.”

“But… what is it doing here? What is this?”

Chariot pondered the thought, mind flashing through the unfavorable events that just occurred.

“Hey, wait…” She recalled. “Remember what that sign said? Something about Polaris, something about a fountain? What if this is it?”

Croix gave the arch a once-over. “I don’t think that’s a fountain.”

“Well, what if it used to be part of one?”

“Who knows,” Croix sighed, “We can talk about it later. Let’s just get out of here before—”

And just then, a low growl that they were all too familiar with traveled through the air and their hearts seized in their throats.

“Damn it,” Croix groaned and clenched her hand that wasn’t around Chariot’s wrist into a fist.

Shakily, Chariot dared to glance behind her. In the hall they had just stepped out of stood the last thing she wanted to see. Her eyes met a ferocious face stark white with fur—minus a small patch of yellow in the center—and her stomach flipped.

It had found them yet again.

Chariot released a weak, helpless whimper. She didn’t think she could put up with anymore of this—she could hardly put up with it the first time. She just wanted things to go back to being calm and for no polar bears to be at her throat. Every second, the regret she had for choosing to come to this place grew stronger and stronger. If she had known she’d receive such an unwarm welcome upon arriving, she would have turned down the invitation immediately.

Although, maybe she probably deserved it. It _was_ partially her fault the bear had awoken in the first place.

And just like that, Chariot jolted as a sudden thought struck through her with a force strong enough to drown out everything else.

She didn’t have much time to linger on the thought before Croix yanked at her wrist to try and get her to move. But she didn’t need to linger on it because, in that moment, Chariot's ran through her thoughts in record speed and suddenly made up her mind regarding a new course of action. So in the most surprising twist of the night, and that was saying a lot, Chariot planted her feet and broke away from Croix’s grip.

Croix whirled around with a look of horror. “What are you doing?!” She shouted.

“I… I think I have an idea.”

“Well, save it for later, that thing’s going to kill us!”

Croix made a grab for her wrist again, but Chariot pulled back—again. “Look, I realized something. He’s just an animal, isn’t he? And if you were an animal and someone broke into your home, wouldn’t you be angry?”

Croix was incredulous. “This is a _school_ , not a zoo so if anything, that bear broke into _our_ home—and I gotta say, yeah I am pretty livid!”

“Still!” Chariot stood her ground. “He probably thinks we were trying to hurt him. Maybe we just have to be friendly to him and he’ll be friendly to us.”

“ _Wh_ —” Croix squeaked. “Are you _serious_? You think you can just _make friends_ with a wild creature? That’s ridiculous!”

“It might work!”

“And, what if it doesn’t?”

“It _might_!”

“If it _doesn't_?”

“You sure love to have the opposing opinion, don’t you,” Chariot snarked out the side of her mouth, growing increasingly impatient.

Croix’s eyes blazed. “Look, this isn’t the time to—”

A reverberating roar interrupted her and the rest of Croix’s words died in her throat.

The bear was stepping into the yard, it’s head lowered and it’s lips curled back in a snarl.

Croix’s breath escaped her, but Chariot held onto her own.

“L-Listen,” she said as bravely as she could. “Just… let me try this, okay?”

“ _Bad. Idea_ ,” Croix pressed through gritted teeth, but Chariot didn’t listen.

She turned to face the polar bear completely and took a steadying breath. She met it’s furious eyes and was surprised she still had the willpower to bring a nervous smile on her face.

“Um… hey buddy,” she said in the most mollifying tone she could muster. “Uh, what was your name again? Ar—Arcas?”

The bear advanced forward inch by inch, snarl never diminishing. Chariot gulped.

“Arcas…” She said again, slowly, gently. She heard the shuffling of Croix’s fearfully backing away and carefully took a step back herself. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re nice people, honestly.”

Arcas took a step forward and with his much wider footsteps, he was able to cross the majority of the distance between them. Chariot’s heart pounded. She didn’t know what would happen if he got any closer.

“Arcas, please listen to me. Everything is okay. We’re sorry we woke you up, but we really didn’t mean to bother you. It won’t happen again, we promise.”

Arcas raised a large, intimidating paw, moving to take another—and what would have been his final—step in order to close the distance between them.

“That’s it, come _on_ ,” Croix hissed, this time clutching Chariot’s hand. “Let’s just run—”

“Wait,” Chariot snapped, eyes glued to Arcas, not believing what she was seeing.

He had been so close to taking a step forward, but in the blink of an eye, he had… stopped. No, not just stopped.

Chariot gasped. There was an additional sound of confusion from Croix that she barely registered because she was too focused on the fact that—

Arcas was retreating.

He took a step backwards and his face softened as it slowly lost its anger.

Chariot stared, awestruck. She couldn’t believe it.

“Arcas…?” She tested, carefully awaiting his response.

The bear then reeled back into a sitting position and made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat, one that wasn’t the least bit threatening. He gazed down at her with calm eyes that only accentuated his sudden shift in mood. Chariot didn’t know if she was imagining it because she was just so relieved, but in that moment she swore the world around her became so much lighter.

Her muscles finally relaxed and she sunk forward with a beaming smile.

“Arcas!” She cheered. “You listened to me! Good boy!” A laugh bubbled out her mouth and she turned to Croix. “See, I knew I could—”

But Croix wasn’t looking at either her nor Arcas. Instead, her eyes were locked onto the sky, staring at it intently.

“What…” She said quietly, “just happened?”

None the wiser, Chariot assumed Croix was referring to what she had done and boasted, “My idea worked!”

Croix’s face fell back to hers, unimpressed. “Please, I’m not talking about your idea. I’m still mad because your idea could’ve gotten us killed. I was talking about _that_ ,” she gestured above them.

Chariot looked up, confused. “Uhh? The sky?”

“Didn’t you see what just happened?”

“See what?”

Croix frowned.

“Hm. I guess you were too focused on that bear to notice anything,” she deducted. “But, I know I wasn’t imagining things. It was right after I grabbed you. There was this… glow of light that came down from the sky, from—from the moon, I think. And when it showed up, that was when the bear backed off. I’m pretty sure that was the _only_ reason the bear backed off,” she voiced, reiterating just how futile she thought Chariot’s plan had been. “And then the light just… disappeared.”

Chariot repeated Croix’s words in her head, her face scrunching up in confusion. “A… glow of light? From the moon? How could _that_ calm Arcas down?”

“I don’t _know_ ,” Croix stressed, momentarily reaching under her glasses to pinch at the bridge of her nose, “and frankly, I don’t even care right now.” She looked to Arcas. “So, if that thing is done attacking us then I’d like to finally get out of here before it changes its mind.”

Chariot glanced to Arcas seeing he was just as docile as they had left him, and nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

She stood up straight and took one last look around the field, swearing nothing else had better pop out to give them trouble.

Her eyes fell back to the arch behind them and she spared a moment to take it in once more. She still had so many questions about it. Why was it there? What was it for? Why was it so important for a creature like Arcas to protect it?

Speaking of Arcas, Chariot’s staring at the arch must have incited something in him because he then made a low sound to bring her attention back to him. Croix instinctively flinched at the sound, but Chariot remained calm. She turned back to him and saw that he was watching them in a way that seemed almost conflicted.

He made another sound in his throat that seemed like a mix between a warning and a whine. And this time Chariot figured she understood.

“He’s not attacking us… but he still knows we shouldn’t be here,” she noted.

“Well, I have no problem with leaving,” Croix huffed. “We’ve overstayed our welcome, anyway.”

With the hand still holding onto Chariot’s, she began pulling her away, eyes darting back to Arcas every few seconds to make sure he wasn’t following them.

When a significant amount of distance had been put between them, Chariot took a final glance back and saw Arcas crawling through the wall and into the building, most likely heading back to his chamber to resume the sleep they had interrupted.

She smiled to herself. “Goodnight, Arcas,” she called out.

Croix looked over and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be so nice. You really think you can just make friends with a wild creature?”

With her spirit feeling lighter, Chariot’s smile widened and she teased, “I made friends with you. What’s the difference?”

And as she watched Croix release a resigned sigh only to follow it up with the smallest crack of a smile at her banter, Chariot relaxed into the night finding the comfort in it once again.

 

* * *

 

In a blurring of time, the two of them managed to make it back to the main school grounds without getting caught. They had traveled in silence, perhaps because they needed the peace—or perhaps because after all that had happened, they didn’t know where to start.

But, even if there was a lot on Chariot’s mind, she figured she could at least inquire one thing.

As they stepped through the courtyard and headed towards an entrance, Chariot casually turned to Croix.

“I know it was no archive,” she began, “but was a guardian polar bear, protector of some fountain, enough evidence for you regarding Luna Nova and witchcraft?”

Croix clicked her tongue. “It was… something, alright. What do I do with that information? I went there wanting answers but got smacked with a bunch more questions.”

“So… what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Croix sighed. “Keep searching, I guess. Hopefully I don’t end up face to face with anymore vicious bears, though.”

“Hey, Arcas was just doing his job,” Chariot defended.

“Yeah, and almost killed us,” Croix said dryly.

The two of them stepped inside the school building and now in the lantern lit hall, they both got a good look at each other for the first time that night.

Croix’s eyes traveled over Chariot’s face and something settled within her own features.

“Hey, listen… I know if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten involved in this stuff. And if things had ended badly at the northern campus, it would’ve been my fault, so… Sorry for dragging you into this.”

Chariot sent her a soft smile. “I made the choice to go along with you, so it would’ve been my fault too. Don’t feel guilty. Besides,” playful smugness came over her, “if I _hadn’t_ gone with you, who would’ve saved you from Arcas?”

Croix smacked her lips. “I _told_ you, it was that light that saved us, not your goofy idea.”

Chariot laughed gently. “Yeah. That light, huh… Whatever that may have been, you think that means anything?”

“I don’t have a single clue. There’s so much stuff about this school I don’t have a clue about.”

“Well, whatever comes next, we could investigate it together. Like you said.”

Croix’s face softened and Chariot saw a smile in her eyes. “Yeah. Like I said.”

The two of them eased back into a comfortable silence and they had only walked a few yards through the hall, when around a corner came two familiar faces. Familiar, to Chariot at least.

Across the hall, her roommates Isabel and Isabella, caught sight of her, faces lighting up in recognition.

“Chariot!” They called out in unison, heading her way.

Croix leaned towards her. “Who are—”

“My roommates,” Chariot replied just as the two of them came to a halt a few feet away.

“There you are, where have you been?” Isabella asked.

She and Isabel looked to Croix, acknowledging her presence as well before turning back to Chariot. Then… they looked back at Croix and back at Chariot. Their eyes settled in between them and a strange expression came over their features. Chariot couldn’t put her finger on why.

Regarding the question of her whereabouts, Chariot’s eyes flickered to Croix’s. “Uh…”

She felt there was an obvious unspoken agreement between them to not tell anyone of what happened. And with Isabel and Isabella being such model students, if they found out she went to the northern campus, Chariot would never hear the end of it. So she searched her mind for an alternate response. But before she could come up with one on her own—

“Dinner,” Croix blurted out for her.

Isabel and Isabella’s eyes darted to hers, both perplexed.

“What about it?” Isabel questioned and Chariot winced.

Croix didn’t know she had actually skipped dinner when she went to join her. But her roommates did. And if the two of them wanted to provide the two of _them_ with a convincing story, they would have to do so with a lie that wasn’t entirely see-through.

So, the gears in Chariot’s head shifted until she finally landed on something.

“We were at dinner,” she announced. And before her roommates could ask why she hadn’t been in the cafeteria, she added, “Alone.”

Three heads snapped towards hers. Chariot took no notice of the joint surprise on all their faces as she continued.

“We just… wanted to spend some time by ourselves. So, we went out. Just the two of us,” she chuckled nervously.

Isabel and Isabella shared a glance between themselves, then slowly looked between her and Croix—who Chariot didn’t realize was staring at her, mouth agape.

“You… went out.” Isabel repeated in a flat voice.

“Just… the two of you.” Isabella said in the same tone.

“Yep!”

“Oh my—” Croix squeezed her eyes shut.

There was a delicate pause. Then, Chariot’s roommates looked at with her with the same strange expression she still didn’t quite understand.

“Um,” Isabel coughed and plastered a smile on her face. “Well, that’s… nice.”

Isabella did the same. “Hope you two… had fun.” Then she hurriedly added, “Well then, um, we should get going.”

Isabel nodded. “Right. So… see you later.”

Before Chariot could say anything else, her roommates stepped around her and Croix and scampered down the hall. Chariot let out a small breath, glad the conversation had ended.

“You think they bought it?” She looked over to Croix and it was only then that she noticed just how flustered she had become. “What’s up with you?”

Croix shook her head exasperatedly.

“Do you ever,” she said weakly, “think before you speak?”

Chariot gave her an affronted look. “What did I do?”

“You realize… you essentially just told your roommates… that we were on a _date_?”

Chariot froze. Her face went white.

And then it went red.

She definitely hadn’t meant to imply anything about a date. So how could…

She reflected back on what she had said and felt the heat in her face rise. Now thinking about it, her word choice _may_ have been a little too… on the nose.

Chariot bowed her head and let out an embarrassed laugh. “Right… Yeah. I see how they could’ve arrived at that conclusion.”

Croix only groaned in response and Chariot straightened up, glancing between the two of them. Something in particular caught her eye and she quirked a brow.

“Though, you know…” She droned. “If anything is gonna make my roommates think we just came from a date—”

Their eyes met and Chariot snorted.

“—it’s the fact that you still haven’t let go of my hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm wonder what was with that supposed glowing light Croix talked about... 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading!


	3. Dawn of the Passionate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Late Nights/Early Mornings
> 
> Here we are with a little both

As she did every night after curfew had been implemented, Professor Finnelan founding herself hoping that the hours until morning would go on without incident. Her main concern at this time of night was always that students would sneak out of bed and do what they were not to, but as long as a soul didn’t step foot out of their rooms, all should be well and she could get some rest.

At least, that was what she had thought before she had received a notice from Professor Nelson to come down with to the security room because she had found something that required urgent attention.

Ardently marching her way out of her quarters and through the school, Finnelan wondered what on earth it could have been this time, and once she had reached the room Nelson had called her from, she pushed the door open, frown already in place.

Inside, she saw not only Professor Nelson but also the headmistress, herself, looking back at her. Nelson was standing in front of a computer monitor while Holbrooke stood just a few feet away, leaning against her staff.

“Oh,” Finnelan said in slight surprise. “I wasn’t aware you would be here, Headmistress. Forgive me if I kept you waiting.”

“No need to apologize, it hasn’t been long.” Holbrooke offered her a smile.

Finnelan nodded. She stepped into the room completely and shut the door behind her.

“Well then,” she turned to Nelson. “Now that I’m here, what seems to be the problem?”

“Like I was just telling the headmistress, I had just finished my patrol and came back here to look over the security tapes to see if everything was in order. That’s when I found something from a few hours ago that I thought the two of you would find, er, interesting,” Nelson explained.

“Alright,” Finnelan said curiously. “Then show us.”

Professor Nelson moved aside, allowing them full view of the monitor, which they stepped closer to inspect. It was frozen on a still image of two girls in the night, facing each other as they stood just along the outskirts of the school building. One had lilac hair cut to her shoulders and the other had a painfully familiar nest of shorter red hair that made a siren go off in Professor Finnelan's head.

Her eyebrow twitched.

“Miss du Nord,” she growled. And who was that with her? Oh… surely that couldn’t be— “Miss Meridies? What on earth are the two of them doing together?” She asked in an offended gasp, bewildered at how one of the school’s best students could end up alongside one of its, in a manner of speaking, worst.

“Well,” Nelson leaned down, pressing a button on the keyboard. The image came to life and the video now played before them. “Seems like they had a little getaway together.”

Finnelan watched with mounting displeasure as the screen displayed the two of them exchanging words before ultimately heading off in the direction opposite campus. Further and further they went until they were well outside the authorized radius students were permitted to be in.

“Unbelievable,” Finnelan said, a heavy frown weighing at her face. From Miss du Nord she may have expected such a petty breach of rules, but from someone such as Miss Meridies? With no previous marks on her record, she would have never imagined. “These two think they can just sneak off under our noses? All the more, where was security during all this?”

“You know we’re understaffed,” Nelson sighed. “No one was on duty at the time. No one’s on duty _now_ which is why I’m the one here showing you this stuff to begin with.”

Finnelan grimaced. She hated how understaffed they indeed were.

“Security aside,” the headmistress interjected with a hand raised from her staff, “Anne. I believe you are missing the bigger picture here. I can’t be the only one who notices _where_ it is they are headed?”

Professor Finnelan furrowed her brow and turned back to the footage. Looking closely, she realized they had traveled down a very recognizable path. One that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Why, that’s—! That’s the direction of the northern campus,” she cried. Panic now mingled in with anger. Of all places… why the one that was strictly prohibited and for _good_ reason? “Oh, the _nerve_ of these girls! To be so irresponsible as to put themselves in danger like this. What an absolutely unacceptable disregard for school regulation _and_ their own safety. For all we know, they…”

She trailed off, now feeling her panic completely replace her anger and her eyes bulged.

Reading her mind, Professor Nelson quickly stepped in.

“No need to assume the worst. Here,” With a few clicks on the monitor, the video began fast-forwarding. After a certain point, the screen showed both girls returning down the path, hand in hand, appearing about as safe as one could hope.

Finnelan sighed in relief. Those girls… they were foolish, disobedient, and in _so much trouble_ if she had anything to say about it. But they were still in one piece. At least that was something.

“Goodness,” her typically high strung shoulders relaxed. “They’re alright.” Then a thought occurred to her, causing her to pull back in confusion. “Hold on… they’re alright,” she muttered suspisiously.

“Yes,” Holbrooke gave a single nod. “They indeed are. And if they traveled to the northern campus, there’s undoubtedly a possibility they encountered Arcas. However, if they were able to do so and come back unscathed… how would that be?” She looked to Finnelan all too knowingly, a small smile of the same nature playing at her lips.

Finnelan stared.

“No.” She replied curtly. “S-Surely… you aren’t implying… You can’t possibly go so far as to believe…”

The headmistress’ smile only widened, cheekily so if Finnelan had to use a word to describe it.

She drearily looked back to the monitor. Miss Meridies… Miss _du Nord_.

She felt her forehead throb, whether it be from a budding headache or an all out aneurysm.

“Anne… ” There was a sparkle in Holbrooke’s eyes, one that couldn’t just be attributed to the reflection of the computer screen in her glasses. “I believe something important may have just occurred.”

 

* * *

 

When Chariot’s eyes fluttered open the next morning, she noticed instantly that there was a problem. It took her but a second to figure out what it was, and though it wasn’t exactly a _problem_ per se, it almost certainly was unwanted.

Just as she had been forced to do the previous day, Chariot found herself awake before she would have ever wanted. Only this time, she felt betrayed because she _wasn’t_ being forced to do any early morning punishment or labor, so why had her body ignored the opportunity to sleep in?

She let out a small, grumbling whine and rubbed at her eyes and face. Once the cloudiness in her vision cleared away, she looked to the side and saw her roommates, lucky them, were still asleep in their bunk beds across the room.

“Mmmm…” Chariot groaned, throwing her arm over her face.

She thought back to the night before and how, after arriving back from the northern campus, she had stolen away to the cafeteria without her roommates knowledge. (Croix had left her in favor of her dorm, claiming she hadn’t been hungry—though Chariot was sure she was just embarrassed over a certain hand-holding incident.) After finishing a quick dinner, she went to her own dorm where Isabel and Isabella had luckily put aside their newfangled emotions toward the misconceptions Chariot had accidentally brought about regarding her and Croix. Though, before she could make any corrections to that certain narrative, the two of them coerced her into getting her homework done, knowing she was one to leave it all till last minute.

She agreed without much objection but while completing her work, she had grown tired, feeling all the adrenaline that had built up throughout the night drain away, leaving her yawning and struggling to keep her eyes open. Once finished with her assignments, she managed to squeeze in what was probably the swiftest shower of her life before turning in to bed, not caring that curfew was still a ways away.

Looking back on it, going to bed early was most likely what shifted her sleep schedule and caused her wake up time to move up. She still wasn’t fond of it, but stretching her limbs out, she supposed she felt rested enough to not feel robbed.

Sitting up, she figured she may as well get ready for the day and did so quietly as to not disturb her roommates.

After her uniform was on and she had smoothed out her hair—which no matter how many times she ran a brush through it, it was always going to stick up the way it did—she brushed her teeth and, checking on her roommates once more to affirm they still hadn’t woken up, she headed out of her dorm and down the hall.

She didn’t have anywhere to go and with it still being so early, she knew not even the cafeteria was open yet. She crossed no other students in the hall, the only person inhabiting it being her and her alone.

She walked around until found herself in the main hall and took a glance out the windows into the courtyard. From there, she could see the sky warming up with dawn as sunlight peeked out from behind the clouds, shrouding them in shadows of orange and red. It was such a pretty sight to her, she thought to get a closer look.

Walking out to the courtyard, she made her way to a nearby bench and lowered herself onto it.

For a while, she sat there, staring at the sky and thinking of nothing. But, she didn’t _have_ to think of anything. The soft, muted colors of morning, the cool but not overbearingly cold autumn winds that brushed over her skin, and the overall silence surrounding her kept her mind at ease. It was truly peaceful.

Then—

“Fancy seeing you here.”

The unexpected voice almost caused Chariot to jump out of her skin in the same fashion her heart almost jumped out of her chest as she whirled around with an unseemly, high-pitched “ _Gyah_!”

So much for peaceful.

And just a foot behind her, she saw the cause of her interrupted peace. If she hadn’t just been frightened, it wouldn’t have been too surprising to see Croix Meridies standing over her with a hand placed on her hip and amusement shining on her face.

Chariot felt her hiccuping heart settle down along with the rest of her upon seeing it was just her.

“Croix,” she breathed.“Y-You scared me.”

“Consider that,” Croix smirked, “payback for sneaking up on _me_ last night. Freaks you out, doesn’t it?”

Chariot huffed and regained her posture. “Little bit,” she murmured. “What are you doing here?”

“I was walking through the hall and noticed you. Thought I’d join.”

Croix’s eyes then traced over Chariot’s face as she took her in. She gave her a funny look and Chariot didn’t know where the butterfly that was now flapping inside her stomach had come from.

“Did you just roll out of bed?” Croix asked her.

“Uh,” Chariot fiddled with her fingers. “Sort of.”

“I could tell. Your hair’s a mess.”

Chariot was glad her ears were concealed so Croix wouldn’t see the way they went just as red as her apparently messy hair.

“Like yours is any better,” She returned, pursing her lips.

Croix let out a quiet chuckle and maybe Chariot was too soft in these early hours of morning, but that may have been all it took for her to roll her eyes halfway and join in with her own breath of laughter.

“So,” Croix eventually continued. “What’s got you up this early?”

“Just felt like waking up,” Chariot shrugged. “What about you?”

Croix scratched behind her ear. “Eh… Couldn’t really sleep.”

“Oh? How come?”

“Just… thinking about certain stuff.”

Croix stepped around the bench and opted to sit down on the other side. Chariot watched her carefully.

“Certain stuff like…” She searched for the right words. “… certain witchy stuff?”

Croix snorted. “Subtle. But yes, actually.”

“Ah,” Chariot nodded. “Was it anything serious? You know, since it kept you from sleeping and all.”

“It was nothing bad. I just kept thinking about that stuff with Arcas and that strange arch and that even stranger glow. All of that—as much as I have no clue what it means—was the first time I’ve found something even remotely close to solid evidence since I’ve arrived at this school. You could say I was just… pretty excited.”

“Oh,” Chariot grinned. “That’s nice.”

Croix flashed a smile. “Yeah. Things are _finally_ moving forward.”

Finally, huh? Chariot wondered how long Croix had waited for this moment. She thought back to how determined she had been and how certain of herself she was. In the short time they had known each other, Croix made her amount of passion clearer than anything else.

It was something Chariot respected, but at the same time didn’t understand. What was it about all this that made her so fervent?

Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to ask, Chariot snuck another peak at Croix and casually asked, “Say, I know you’re really dedicated to all of this witchcraft stuff but… can I ask why? Do you just want to prove a point or… is there something more?”

Their eyes met, but Croix kept silent and sat back against the bench. She then looked over her shoulder, momentarily regarding a stray weed in the ground as Chariot’s question lingered in the air.

She gave a considering hum and faced forward. Her eyes no longer met Chariot’s as she stared straight ahead.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind telling you,” she said some moments later.

Chariot felt anticipation balloon inside her and silently waited for Croix to continue, feeling it would be too overbearing if she verbally urged her to. She didn’t think that was what Croix needed as she heard her take a calm breath and then begin.

“So. This all actually started earlier this year when my grandmother passed away.”

“Oh,” Chariot’s voice pitched in a light gasp, suddenly feeling guilty for bringing it up. In an apologetic tone, she added, “I’m… so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Croix shrugged off with the air of someone who’d heard the same apology many times before. “So, yeah. My grandmother died. But, a few weeks before it happened, though… there was this one day where I was with her at the hospital. I remember there was this old show playing on the TV and it was this girl’s sixteenth birthday, right? And her aunts told her she was a witch and that all witches awaken their powers at sixteen. I was thinking nothing of it because it was just a show, but then suddenly my grandmother blurts out, ‘that’s not how witchcraft really is.’”

Chariot listened attentively, only briefly redirecting her thoughts to a vague memory of perhaps watching a similar scene on television some years ago.

Croix continued, “I just nodded along, not really taking her seriously because she was old and had dementia, so she normally said things that were random and didn’t make much sense. But, then… she just kept talking. The more the show went on, the more she kept giving criticisms. Like, there was a cat that spoke perfect english, but she said cats can’t speak english and in order for him to be understood, people would have to speak _cat_ language. Or how this girl was able to do magic with her bare fingers, but ‘if she just found out she’s a witch, she can’t possibly be that advanced.’ She kept going on, saying stuff like that, and when the show was over, she was all grumpy because she thought it was a poor portrayal of witches. So—as a joke, honestly—I said that she seemed to know a lot about witches and asked if she was one. And then… she said _yes_.”

Chariot’s eyes grew in size and Croix shook her head softly as she recalled the memory.

“Now, I _really_ didn’t believe her at first. But then she started talking more and more about witchcraft and she sounded so convincing and so _honest_ that I didn’t think I could just keep brushing it off as dementia. Because, with dementia, she never spoke like that. And as I listened to her speak, I realized that by talking about witchcraft, it was as if she had gone back to the way she was before she got sick. Her memory surrounding the topic seemed just fine, she wasn’t struggling to recall anything. She could hardly even remember the name of her doctor who came to check on her later, but there she was, talking about something that didn’t even seem real… But she spoke with such a passion I hadn’t seen from her in years and it was that passion that made me not want to think it was fake anymore. I knew this witchcraft had to be something incredibly special to her for it to be one of the only few memories she had left. Her brain had deteriorated drastically, but this was important enough for her to manage to hold onto. So, what else could I do but believe her?”

Chariot sat captivated by what Croix was saying, leaning forward to know more. There were lessons in class she had never offered the same amount of focus, but no lesson—she felt—could compare to the story she was hearing now. She hung onto every word that Croix spoke, feeling her own self rise and fall with each inflection and cadence of her tone. She took in every fond and wistful look that passed over Croix’s face as she recounted her tale, never daring to avert her eyes.

“After that,” Croix’s voice fell into her ears the way the nearby tree leaves fell through the air, “she didn’t talk about witchcraft again until she died. And all the days surrounding her death felt like one big blur, but out of everything, that was the only thing that stuck. I didn’t tell anyone else about what she said. I felt kind of bad keeping it from my mom, but she’s a pretty no-nonsense person and if I went up to her and said that her deceased mother claimed she was a witch, it definitely wouldn’t have gone over well. So, I kept it to myself. Yet still, my grandmother’s words had too much of an influence on me to ignore them. So, I started getting more interested in the idea of witchcraft and I found myself looking into it and doing whatever research I could. Most of the stuff I found were just small things and anecdotes that had almost no credibility, but it was still something.”

“One day, I came across this sketchy-looking website that probably only got about five hits a day, and there was this one article that mentioned the rumors of Luna Nova being a witch academy. Now, Luna Nova is one of the most well known schools in all of Europe, so if it had been a witch academy, surely everyone would know about it. But, the article pointed out that almost everything regarding this school’s past is unknown. And that the few things they could find about its history all happen to take place _after_ magic had been deemed obsolete, though the school had been founded long before. And that made me really curious—and sort of annoyed, too—because if witchcraft was as amazing as my grandmother made it out to seem, why would witches just… pretend it was nothing? I didn’t understand it at all—I still don’t,” she sighed.

“But, I want to. So, on an impulse decision, I decided to transfer to Luna Nova. I got away with it since this school is way more prestigious than my last one and my mom thought I was coming here for scholarly reasons. But really, I mostly just wanted to see if I could find out the truth. If I could prove this school once taught witchcraft… more than that, if I could _learn_ about witchcraft… then maybe I could have something as special in my life as my grandmother did.”

With her narration now meeting its end, Chariot let out a breathless sigh, immersing herself in all she had just heard. Her eyes sparkled with wonder.

“Wow,” she leaned towards Croix with an entranced smile. “That was so beautiful.”

Croix took one look at Chariot’s close proximity and stumbled.

“Wh—” She stuttered and ebbed away, her cheeks tinging red. “I—I didn’t… I wasn’t trying to be…”

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath which she slowly released. Her eyes reopened almost painfully.

“… Nevermind,” she mumbled. “Anyway. There. Now you know my motives or whatever.”

“And they’re wonderful motives,” Chariot continued to gush, even coming an inch closer. (She failed to notice Croix moving an inch back). “I didn’t know you had something so important to you. I think it’s great, really. I admit, I initially thought you were just doing this stuff for the thrill of it all, but your actual reasons are even better and I’m glad I know them now. Thanks so much for telling me!”

A deeper red spread over Croix’s cheeks—something Chariot would have seen clearly if she would just look _anywhere_ other than Croix’s eyes.

“Um… okay. You’re—you’re welcome,” Croix managed out. She held Chariot’s gaze for just another second before swiftly standing up, aimlessly smoothing out her clothes. “Right, so um… I think I’m getting kind of hungry. I’m gonna… go see if breakfast is ready.”

“Oh, I’ll go with you,” Chariot hopped up enthusiastically. “We could have breakfast together!”

There was a sound almost like a tiny squeak in the back of Croix’s throat and she ducked her head down. “I… I, uh… Whatever.”

Chariot beamed and Croix spared her one more glance before hastily turning around and starting towards the building. She followed, picking up a quicker pace to keep up with Croix, who seemed to be in the middle of a light jog more than a walk. Chariot figured she was just excited about breakfast. She supposed she was too, among other things. And as her own excitement made itself known, Chariot couldn’t help but realize that this morning was quite nice for one she hadn't even planned.

 

* * *

 

But of course, the morning that Chariot had thought was so nice was to come to an abrupt end the moment that, on their way to the cafeteria, she and Croix encountered Professor Finnelan, who had stepped around a corner, only to be face to face with them.

Chariot and Croix froze at the sight of her, Chariot instinctually more stricken than her counterpart.

Finnelan seemed to freeze the moment her eyes laid on theirs as well.

Her face was unreadable, something Chariot didn’t like whatsoever, because an unreadable Finnelan was a scary one. The uncertainty of her mood only made Chariot’s anxiety mount.

“G-Good morning, Professor,” Croix said as politely as she could, though judging by her expression, she too felt like something was off.

Finnelan stared down at them for a moment. And then she did something Chariot would have never expected. She _smiled_.

“Good morning, girls,” she returned in a chipper manner that only served to make Chariot even more uncomfortable. “How are you today?”

Chariot fought the urge to recoil and stammered out a reply. “We—We’re, um, just fine.”

“Oh, isn’t that good? I’m so glad to hear it. Although, I didn’t expect to see you girls so bright and alert this early in the morning. It’s nice you have so much energy,” she said in a dangerously nice tone. Chariot didn’t trust it one bit. “After all… I would have assumed you two would be quite tired after _jumping_ at the chance to deliberately disobey school rules last night.”

If Chariot had seen that coming, it still wouldn’t have mattered because even after all this time, no amount of preparation would have made her immune to Finnelan’s scorn. Her eyes darted to Croix who stood as still as a statue, a single bead of sweat trailing down to her jaw. Chariot looked back to Finnelan, her heart pounding, and gulped.

“That’s right. In my office, you two,” Finnelan ordered, her face now settled in a deep frown. “We have a few things to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof Finnelan's got beef. Wonder what's gonna happen. Also, let's play a game called what show did I unsubtly reference in this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
